Hayward Demison (Courtesy of The Children's Hospital at Legacy Emanuel)

The doctor who performed heart surgery on Central Catholic football player Hayward Demison this week said Thursday it is unclear if and when the 17-year-old will be ready to return to competitive sports.

Dr. John Iguidbashian also said most of the people with Demison's condition "die before they can get medical attention."

Iguidbashian, who operated Monday at Legacy Emanuel Medical Center, said Demison is recovering with no complications or difficulties and should return home in a day or two. But it's difficult to project the trajectory and scope of his recovery and how it relates to strenuous exercise and physical contact.

"It's not a slam-dunk, by any means," Iguidbashian said Thursday during a news conference. "He and his family really have to think carefully about the risks and benefits."

Demison, a junior running back for the Rams, collapsed on the sideline and his heart stopped Sept. 10 after he scored the eventual winning touchdown in a game against Canby. He was revived when a cardiac nurse, Lisa Lyver, came down from the stands to perform CPR.

Lyver, who also spoke at the news conference, said she saw Hayward Demison for the first time after the surgery Tuesday. She said she has seen a lot of open-heart surgery patients, and "he looks as good as anybody."

"He reached up and gave me a big hug, and again said, 'Thank you,' " Lyver said.

Demison's father, Hayward Demison II, also appeared at the news conference and expressed thanks for the support the family has received from the community.

The elder Demison said he is glad his son's surgery is over and he is looking forward to the recovery period. The possibility of his son not returning to competitive sports makes him nervous, he said, but he wants him to be prepared for life without sports.

"With his ambition and motivation, I would say most likely he'll come back."

Explaining Demison's condition, Iguidbashian said it was an "anomalous intramural left coronary off the right sinus," a rare defect in which the left coronary artery is adjacent to the right coronary artery. With activity, the arteries pinch and block blood flow.

The surgery opened a new path for blood into the left coronary artery. It corrects the abnormality, but there remains potential for problems down the road.

"The real question is long term how things will heal and improve," Iguidbashian said. "And there's always some risk that he could have another sudden-death episode.

"Just the heart itself, the muscle may be damaged from long-term lack of blood supply. He may have been having little stresses on his heart for his whole life, and just these more severe, extreme exertions are the ones that tip him over the edge."

Demison had experienced shortness of breath during exercise in the past few years but was misdiagnosed with asthma. If the heart abnormality hadn't been corrected, Demison was at risk not only during strenuous exercise, but even at rest, the doctor said.

"If it hadn't been for Lisa, this might have been his last (episode)," Iguidbashian said, adding later that Demison "certainly demonstrated he had a high likelihood of dying with strenuous exercise."

Iguidbashian said Demison's condition accounts for less than half of 1 percent of abnormal coronaries. The doctor said he had performed surgeries for hundreds of heart abnormalities, but "this is the first one of this type."

"It's exceedingly rare," he said. "Estimates are as much as 80 percent of the people that have this die before they can get medical attention."

Dr. James Kyser, Demison's cardiologist, said it would take six to eight weeks for Demison's sternum to heal from the surgery. After Demison heals properly, he can begin reconditioning and testing the cardiovascular system.

Kyser was asked if Demison would recover in time to play basketball this winter.

"I don't think that's going to happen," Kyser said. "That's a little early. ... The most important thing is that Hayward stays safe."

Football is Demison's best sport, though, and Central Catholic coach Steve Pynehas said that the 6-foot-1, 195-pound Demison has the potential to play in college. Iguidbashian urged caution about Demison returning to the football field.

"That's another really unclear issue," he said. "Trauma for football hits is pretty intense, even for totally healthy people. Having had surgery, there's scar tissue that develops in the chest cavity. The bone has been cut and closed, which usually heals very well. But you certainly have to wonder, at his level, what the contact would do to a heart that has been repaired like this."

Demison's father said he and his son saw on the news this week that Reggie Garrett Jr., a high school football player from West Orange, Texas, collapsed and died minutes after throwing a touchdown pass in a game Friday. Cardiac arrhythmia is one of the potential causes being investigated.

The elder Demison said the events of Sept. 10 have "made me a lot closer to my son. I think about what could have happened."

The ordeal has motivated Demison's father to push for preventive care. He said he plans to set up a foundation in his son's name to provide heart screenings for young athletes. And he also wants football teams to be required to have defibrillators on both sidelines at games.

"He was truly blessed to make it," he said. "We want to give back to the community. ... It's something I don't want a parent to go through."

Lyver stressed the importance of heart screenings and CPR.

"I would highly urge everybody to take a CPR class, and not be afraid to use it," she said.